Global Courant
The White House is on display on June 25, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Samuel Korum | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Secret Service is investigating a “small amount” of a “white, powdery substance” discovered Sunday in a “working area in the West Wing,” a Secret Service official said.
The substance – which tested positive for cocaine during a field test, according to a radio broadcast from the Washington, D.C. Fire Department — led to a brief evacuation at the White House on Sunday night.
The Secret Service is testing the substance, which they determined was “not dangerous,” and said in a statement they are investigating the matter.
“Sunday night, the White House complex closed as a precaution as Secret Service Uniformed Division agents examined an unknown item found in a work area,” said Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesman. “The DC Fire Department was called to evaluate and quickly determined that the item was not hazardous. The item has been sent for further evaluation and an investigation is underway into its cause and how it entered the White House.”
President Joe Biden was not in the White House at the time the substance was discovered; he left for Camp David on Friday and returned to Washington on Tuesday morning.
The White House declined to comment.
